Marvel Comics 2020
Written by Frank Tieri
Illustrated by Angel Unzueta, José Luis & Scott Hanna
Coloured by Rachelle Rosenberg
Lettered by VC's Joe Sabino
Ravencroft is fully staffed, but who thought it was a good idea to put these people in charge of helping inmates? Watch as John Jameson attempts to keep the beasts at bay!
I am completely into this book. I miss the days where horror permeated comics and when Werewolf by Night, Tomb of Dracula and Man-Thing were staples. While I fully realise that this is a limited series but I would really like it to continue or come back as a monthly, or at the very least a series of arcs with some of today's hottest creators taking a turn. This is the darker side of the Marvel Universe that has been left by wayside for way too long and it's high time that these stories continue, granted Fisk and his Masters of Evil cohorts don't need to be here but with Jameson, Misty and D-Man being key players in this series would thrill me to no end.
The way that this is being told is phenomenal, the premise or idea of the story is phenomenal and the way Frank is telling this is phenomenal. That's a lot of phenomenal but it's definitely worthy of them. The story & plot development that we see here through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is beautifully presented. The opening, oh man what I wouldn't have given to see Karla and Frank go at each other one on one. Sigh oh well maybe another time. Still the fact that this is opening here when it doesn't need to be this eye catching or popping is another reminder just how good Frank is at this. The character development is fantastic and it's nice to see the characters not even try to hide who they are regardless of who they are who they've been. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way while working with everything else to create the books ebb & flow and highlights the books structure. This is really rather dynamic and it hits all the right notes for me.
On the whole the interiors are really strong. Frank looking a Neanderthal with that huge upper lip, from no angle is a face going to take on this look unless it is very simian in nature, made question who he was because visually I couldn't tell. Next page the nose looks different but it's a much more believable representation of him. Now this is a prison so I want to feel enclosed in every panel, I want to feel the pressure of being locked in there. The linework is strong and how we see the varying weights being utilised to bring out the attention to detail is really nicely done. With the utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels we do see a rather nice eye for storytelling. The colour work is fantastic! To see how glass refracts light is shown so nicely and the neon style colour adds a great pop. The various hues and tones within the colours creating the shading, highlights and shadow work are rendered incredibly well.
The layering we see within the story and how the various paths may or may not connect keep us guessing at every turn. We saw Reed Richards in the first issue but we haven't seen him since and in all honesty I prefer it that way. I think the mix of characters here that are in place and rotating around make for some of the most uniquely interesting dynamic for storytelling.